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A Beginners Guide to Buying Your First Teleprompter

You have many choices today when you start to think about buying your first teleprompter. You can choose an iPad teleprompter, a small, portable product or a larger teleprompter for bigger settings. You also can select a presidential style product that is used by President Obama, if you like. What you need to do is to purchase a product that is right for your studio and for your particular project.

There are two essentials you need to know to figure out which device is right for you. First of all, how far will your speaker be from the teleprompter? The next question to answer is what kind of features do you need on your teleprompter in terms of weight, options and software?

You need to determine the range of the talent from the to the beamsplitter glass where he or she will be reading the text. If the talent has good 20/20 vision, you can most likely use a smaller screen teleprompter, such as our Telmax G2-15 with a 15” screen. The person with good vision should be able to read that screen from up to 15 feet away. 

An iPad teleprompter such as the Pro-iP EX teleprompter is a great choice and it also can be used if you need to have your talent closer to the screen, say three or six feet away.

You should keep in mind that the text on your prompter will be about 48 to 72 points in size. This means you will be able to fit about 5 words on each line. In an ideal situation, your first teleprompter will scroll the text so that the line is read right in front of the lens, so it appears that your speaker to looking right at the viewer. Remember, if the speaker appears to be looking other than straight ahead, the teleprompter is not being used right. This also means that a larger teleprompter, such as the G2-17, should not be used in an up close situation. The only way it will work is if you adjust the margins on the script to bring them right into the middle of the screen. This is to avoid your speaker reading from left to right to obviously. 

Once you have determined the range of your speaker from the teleprompter, then you can start to look at the features of our various Telmax products. For example, if you need to move the product around a lot, you might consider our Superlite line. Or, if you need a smaller and lightweight product at a budget price, consider our Extreme line. Our Presidential teleprompters are another excellent choice for large audiences and auditoriums.

By keeping in mind the range in mind, and the specific requirements of your engagement, you can select a Telmax teleprompter that is perfect for you.